BH BIZ STAR 2026 AWARDS

The big event will be held at Pangdean Barn, on Thursday 24th September from 6:30pm to 12:00am.

It will start with a drinks & canapé reception, followed by a two-course dinner, the awards ceremony, itself and special guest entertainment and a disco.

Winning awards is one thing that will galvanise your team to even greater things. We’d like to think the BHBiz Stars are a little different from the rest. While acknowledging the commitment of our business leaders and founders, to get their businesses to where they are now, we also offer the opportunity for your staff to be celebrated as well.

Being nominated for an award is just part of the process. Entering for one of our categories is of itself a useful exercise, helping you to focus on your achievements. It can be used in good stead for other national awards you may want to consider in your own sector.

Winning any award is a marvellous testament to your company ethos and commitment to doing good business… and it’s PR and marketing gold dust!

Our Gala Awards evening will be held at BHBPA member’s venue Pangdean Old Barn in Pyecombe. This beautiful venue holds 180 people. Ticket sales will begin soon, with special rates when you book a table of eight or ten.

You’ll be hearing more on all aspects of the evening both here and in our weekly newsletter.

You can enter up to four categories. The link to the nomination page is below.

Let’s celebrate what makes Burgess Hill a great place to do business and work: Our BHBPA members!

Our awards focus on the most of important part of any business – your people

Judges recognise the achievements of employees from the top to the bottom of organisations for their contribution to the workplace and their community. Whether that is an individual at the sharp end of the business, helping to drive your business, or that truly invaluable star that holds everything together and makes it all work. We have a category for just such an individual – our Bright Star award.

We also celebrate your newer staff with the broad category that is Star Apprentice. They do not have to be an apprentice per se, they could be a trainee or a newcomer to your business who has that special shine to them.

We have striven to keep the ticket prices as reasonable as possible, to encourage you to bring your teams to celebrate together. There will be discounts on block bookings of tables of ten at £750, and we’ll offer that rate for tables of eight as well. Individual ticket price will be £85 per person.

Eligibility to enter:

To enter our BHBiz awards you must be a member.
You can also nominate other individuals, as long as they work in a member business.
You can enter up to four different categories, but in each category you have the opportunity to make multiple entries. So if you have several ‘Bright Stars’ or ‘Star Apprentices’, tell us why they’re ALL exceptional.

Read about what we are looking for in each of the award descriptions below. Our judges are looking for evidenced submissions so make it apparent what has been achieved.

Enter

click here to reach the nomination form

Include up to three pieces of supporting documentation. Please submit all entries to awards@bhbpa.co.uk

If you have any questions, please contact richard.cox@bhbpa.co.uk

Entry deadline extended!

Please submit no later than:

Midnight Tuesday 30th June

Tickets on sale now!

This year we are changing the way you purchase tickets, to make the event more sustainable. Please complete this online form and we’ll send you an invoice. Your seats will be confirmed, once the invoice is paid

AWARD CATEGORIES

Best Business

The top award for a company – there are many ways in which your application will be given consideration. A leader in sustainability, a magnet attracting the best people, treats employees well, generates a good company ethos, one which makes its workforce proud, generous to charity, good CSR contribution and makes a good profit ethically.

However old your business you will be considered, perhaps you started up but a few years ago and are now approaching a scale up stage. You’re a successful, growing, innovative, creative company with exuberant, enthusiastic staff working well together.

Micro Star (Best Micro Business)

Your company will be a micro-business if it meets any two of the following criteria:

a turnover of £1 million or less
£500,000 or less on its balance sheet
6 employees or less

We want to find out what sets you apart from the competition. Do you have great customer service stories, innovative products or services, brilliant marketing, an engaged workforce and bright prospects for the future.

Bright Star

Is there a member of staff that always brightens the working day? Your nominee might be the person most other members of staff would suggest as a spokesperson for the group; someone who knows what is going on, is usually involved in it, and often leading it. Perhaps someone whose worth to the company has only become clear after time; someone who always gets the job done, and done well, but never brags about it, a person who elicits a comment like “Thank goodness, we have him/her. Don’t know what we’d do without them!”

Charity and Community Champion

The Community Champion is a company, a department or an individual that has excelled at fundraising and community engagement. That involvement in the community could take any number of forms. A company that offers materials to schools, or sponsors team kits for local rugby, football, or cricket teams. A company happy to give its time to support the community by, for example, allowing staff to spend a day at a hospice or other volunteer activities, or helping pack and deliver local Christmas Hampers. Perhaps you allow staff to take time out to fulfil their duties as a Trustee or Treasurer of a local charity. This Award is made to an individual, team or company whose endeavours to raise money for charity are exceptional; who go out of their way for others and clearly enjoy the challenge, fun and enjoyment. They may have made a one-off commitment, or they may have shown dedication over time to raise money for a charity or support a good cause.

Ethical Business Star

Does your business subscribe to accreditation from The Good Business Charter or the Organisation for Responsible Business, or have you been certified by B-Corp? You’re probably already working on all the fronts we’d like to see in your awards application. While these accreditation bodies have slightly different criteria, we’re looking overall for businesses that display strong ethics in all their dealings with staff and customers. You’ll have established equality, diversity and inclusion programmes in place. A business where purchasing decisions are taken with care and where suppliers are paid promptly. You’ll have a commitment to sustainability and fairness in all your operations.

Excellence in Leadership

This is a unique award and will be nominated by your staff who will carry out a leadership audit, based on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) scoring platform. This will review how your company’s vision is shaped and communicated and how your long term goals tie everything together. We’ll assess how your core values shape staff recruitment and retention. You’ll have clear target markets and marketing that is focussed with clear differentiators of your offering. You’ll have the right people in the right roles, there’s a ‘fit’ to your workforce, with honest and open management and very high weekly employee engagement. Core processes are documented and simplified and measured with feedback loops for everything. Do you think your leadership team can pass muster? Are you ready for a confidential assessment of your management style? You’ll be judged strictly on a points based score card, courtesy of EOS. This award can be nominated for submission by either your staff or your leadership teams.

Future Talent & Skills Champion

The company that has made a standout contribution locally over this last year. Visiting schools for careers fairs and mock interviews, hosting visits from pupils, offering work placements, perhaps to multiple local secondary schools. A company that is a keen and active promoter of Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) related activities that help to nurture future local talent. Giving valuable staff time during both school hours or for after school clubs for STEM activities or any other programme promoting sustainability, innovation, entrepreneurship, business and citizenship skills.

Green Champion

This is a company that has the environment in mind in all its activities. It realises the importance of weighing environmental factors against profit; it encourages staff to be green thinking and green acting; it can demonstrate a circular economy approach (reduce, reuse, recycle) to all its operations. Key actions include implementing energy-efficient technologies, using sustainable, recyclable packaging, promoting eco-friendly travel and auditing supply chains for ethical, green practices. In this category, we are looking for actions, not words!

Star Apprentice

For a newcomer to the company, an apprentice or trainee who has shown enthusiasm, willingness to do more, creativity, genuinely fits in well with all staff, will get on in this business.

Shooting Star (best start up /scale up business)

Has your business grown from nothing…or has it transitioned to another level over the last three years? We’re looking for exceptional start-ups or robust scale-up business that demonstrate growth. For early-stage ventures ( three years or younger) we’re looking for innovation, growth, and resilience. If instead you’re transitioning to the scale up stage, you’re achieving close to 20% annualised growth in turnover over the three year period. Your business will have seen significant increases in headcount, market share, or geographical footprint. Perhaps you’ve developed unique products, services, or processes. High levels of client / customer retention and employee engagement are other markers of a well-run business. You’ll have robust plans for sustainable growth and strong management teams.

Team of Stars

A company award, or an award for a group or team within a company, who get results, perhaps smash targets, for example, perhaps a HR team who have innovated, made great changes with success, who have worked well together to move the company forward. Alternatively, this could be the entire company if you are just a small group of less than 10 people.

Winning Workplace

This nomination is for a company that creates a great working environment for its staff. It probably retains staff for longer because it looks after them so well; there is a buzz of social activity and it’s a place where people are happy and proud to work and are quick to say so. Staff are encouraged to support each other to get the job done; it’s a company/business that accepts mistakes are part of human behaviour; it encourages ideas and welcomes constructive criticism. It’s somewhere everyone is treated with respect.

2026 Headline sponsor

The team at Sherrards Employment Law Solicitors are delighted that the firm are Headline Sponsors of the BHBPA BH Biz Star 2026 Business Awards.

We have been members of the BHBPA for a number of years now and really value our membership within the local business community. The association offers fantastic opportunities to network and keep in touch with like-minded local businesses keen to firmly put our area on the map.